Chicago - The Illinois State Board of Education will honor 15 of
the state’s top business-education partnerships at the tenth annual
Business-Education Partnership Conference January 8-9 at the Fairmont
Hotel, 200 N. Columbia Drive.

Edward B. Rust Jr., chairman of the board and chief executive
officer of the State Farm Mutual Insurance Company in Bloomington will
receive the Lou Mervis Award for distinguished service to education.
This award will be presented at a special dinner from 6-8 p.m. tonight,
January 8.

State Superintendent of Education Glenn W. McGee tonight will also
honor groundbreaking television journalist Bill Kurtis with a
special Superintendent’s Award for his longtime support of and work
for education.

Finally seven Illinois educators and business leaders were honored
earlier today with 2001 Education to Careers Governor’s Awards
for their work to support and promote education.

“The education community recognizes and relies on the important
link between the business community and us,” McGee said. “We are
proud to publicly demonstrate our gratitude to our business partners for
their support and to show how business is helping us to deliver an
education that is Second to None for all of our students.”

Rust is the second-ever recipient of the prestigious Mervis award,
named for former two-time State Board Chairman Lou Mervis, a nationally
recognized and respected advocate for education and prominent Danville
businessman. Former State Sen. Arthur Berman received the award last
year.

Rust is being lauded for his significant contributions to education
at every level. He chairs the Illinois Business Roundtable and the
national Business Roundtable’s Education Task Force, and is vice chair
of the Business Higher Education Forum.

He is also a member of the board of directors of Achieve, Inc., and
the National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21st
Century.

In 1996 Rust led the “Superintendent’s External Review Team”
which was formed to find agreement on the Illinois Learning Standards.
That group’s work, and the Illinois Business Roundtable’s public
endorsement of the Learning Standards were important components of the
Standards’ approval and adoption in 1997. Standards outline the
knowledge and skills students need for success in life.

Locally, Rust’s leadership and support have helped five
Bloomington-area school districts get involved in the College Board’s
Equity 2000 program. The program provides teacher development and
creates safety nets for struggling students.

Kurtis, known worldwide for his work on such television journalism
programs s “Investigative Reports,” “American Justice” and “The
New Explorers,” long ago recognized the impact his journalistic work
could have on education. He created “eld!n” - the Electronic Long
Distance Learning Network - a science curriculum based on the “New
Explorers” program and the Learning Standards for science.

Eld!n was developed with top educators, media and communications
professionals across the country. It lets teachers and students use
state-of-the-art technology, science and problem-solving skills. Now
Kurtis is donating the curriculum to over 200 Illinois schools,
including all middle schools in which more than 50 percent of students
are not meeting science standards.

Among the 2001 Education-to-Careers Governor’s Awards winners, Carol
Touissant, a teacher at Thomas Middle School in Arlington Heights,
was named the Educational Champion of the Year.

Among many other accomplishments, Touissant has been nominated for a
Golden Apple Award and has prepared and delivered numerous workshops and
presentations on the importance of career development and relevant
education.

Sharon Potacki, a teacher at Conrady Junior High School in Hickory
Hills, received honorable mention.

The Private Sector Champion of the Year award went to Blouke Carus,
chief executive officer of the Carus Corporation in Peru.

Carus is president of the Illinois Valley Education-to-Careers
Partnership. He has supported education and business partnerships in
many ways, including hiring numerous students for summer internships in
his company.

James H. Collins, director of community relations at Deere and Co.,
Moline, earned honorable mention.

Finally, State Sen. Debbie Halvorson, D-Chicago Heights, is
the Elected Official of the Year. Halvorson has shown her commitment to
the education-to-careers philosophy in many ways including working with
two education-to-careers partnerships and two large chambers of
commerce.

Honorable mentions go to Joseph Vermeire, the Rock Island County
Regional Superintendent of Schools, and Irene H. Brodie, mayor of the
Village of Robbins.

2001 Exemplary Business-Education
Partnerships

Cherry Corporation, Automotive Division, and
Waukegan High School Business PartnershipEd. partners: Waukegan High School [Waukegan CUSD #60), and Lake
County ETCBus. partner: Cherry Automotive, a division of Cherry
Corporation, Waukegan

McHenry County Association of Plastics
PartnersEd. partner: McHenry County College, Crystal Lake, along with
district high schools
Bus. partner: SeaquistPerfect Dispensing, Cary, along with more than 12
other plastics companies

Naperville Community Unit School District
203/Edward Cardiovascular Institute PartnershipEd. partners: Naperville CUSD #203 and DuPage Area Education to
Careers System, Naperville
Bus. partners: Edward Cardiovascular Institute and the Naperville Area
Chamber of Commerce